Daily Times

For many generations, the thought which has most occupied humanity has been to find out some formula by which one could become successful overnight. This is despite the fact that we know that success does not come so handy in life nor it comes too soon. But the people whom we daily see being so successful in their careers often make us suspect that perhaps they have some special knack or formula which made them so successful and which they don’t share with us, perhaps they are afraid lest we might become their rivals, and threaten their careers.

The reality is that a successful man has usually not that much time and energy to sit with us and analyze the factors which made him a successful man by recounting all the thorny courses of his journey he has waded through to reach his present position after a long time’s struggle which he feels is difficult for him to describe to others.

The phrase, “Nothing succeeds like success” is slightly enigmatic, as its true meaning is a little confusing. This is generally understood to mean that having accomplished one thing, accomplishing the next will be even easier. The idea behind this idiom is that once you succeed at something, you are in a better position to succeed at the next step. One success will give a person more confidence, as well as more support or other resources which will all give that person an advantage to climb further on the ladder of success.

There are some other ramifications of this phrase which also teach us the importance of giving others the first opportunity to succeed. It also reminds us that we need to keep on taking opportunities: once we have succeeded at first, we will find that more and more success comes our way. It is important to appreciate our successes, and also to celebrate the successes of others. And, if at first we do not find success, we should keep on trying! You should stay positive and confident and you will find that, sooner or later, you will begin to succeed time and time again.

If one were to short-list all the requirements needed to achieve success in life, hard work is the one cardinal element to guarantee success

There are many positive attitudes which this phrase connotes. It gives us encouragement when we know that success can lead to even more success, we feel encouraged to try our hardest at everything we do. Secondly, succeeding once endows us with confidence: we feel that we now know the secret to success and we know that we have the ability to succeed again and again. Thirdly, knowing that success breeds success helps us to have a positive outlook on life: things will keep on getting better! This phrase teaches us that once we have worked out how to succeed once, we can succeed again – success need not be something mysterious. And lastly, it enables us to help others. If we want other people to succeed in life, we know that all that we need to do is to give them some initial help and then that first success will create more and more opportunities for them.

Success actually does not come so easy. It can only be clinched after a long struggle, perseverance, and untiring endeavours. The road to success is riddled with challenges, failures and disappointments. Success is like a degree a student is awarded after years of studies. And once success has been attained in some area, it helps people in almost all areas of life. Success not only brings financial prosperity, it brings along other lucrative opportunities also. Thus, a ripple effect of favorable events and opportunities is created.

Our libraries and book-stalls are full of literature relating to career planning, and tips for success in life. But my own understanding of such literature is that barring a few books written by eminent writers of human psychology, who have seen life deeply and lived through their experiences personally ( writers like Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill etc), the rest of large stores of books claiming rules of instant success are worthless and of no use to people. Such writers claiming to have magic formulae guaranteeing easy and instant success are seen doing good business because of their attractive presentations, but they are practically worthless.

The mantra for success is defined differently by all the great luminaries in various fields of science, business management, and administration, etc. But there is a core asset which is most essential to success which means discipline, honesty, truthfulness, perseverance, personal skills, and last but not the least, sheer hard work.

For people to succeed in life there should be a continuous plan that has to be followed through all the processes of their lives. Success is a process and not an event. Consistency and perseverance are the sine qua non of success. People like Henry Ford and Walt Disney whose lives were replete with defeats and failures became ultimately successful only for their consistency and perseverance.

The first requirement of the formula of success is to have a clear vision of what one wants to do. The next phase is to work out a strategy to put one’s vision into practice. The next step is to take risk to materialize your vision. The fear to take risk works against success. All great enterprisers and businessmen are aware that the measure of their success depends upon the risk they take at the appropriate time. For taking risk, the element of time is very essential. Risk taken at the wrong time may work negatively. The one primary factor of success is in taking risk at the appropriate time.

People often ask if there is a short-cut to success. They will be disappointed to know that there is no short-cut to success. I will go a step further to say that there may be short-cuts to some fields of activities, but there is none to achieve success on a permanent basis in life.

If one were to short-list all the requirements needed to achieve success in life, hard work is the one cardinal element to guarantee success. It should be consistent and strenuous and not irregular or fitful. Without sheer hard work there cannot be any prospect of success. The sooner one realizes it, the faster would be one’s goals to achieve. Almost all writers who have studied the lives of highly successful men are unanimous in saying that the biggest factor for success in any field of activity is sheer hard work.

The writer is a former member of the Provincial Civil Service, and an author of Moments in Silence